Lzh Sarv Bi Vb Ss 4Receiving Food With Lust
Pāli / Sanskrit:Avassutā avassutassa
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Explanation of the Avassutā avassutassa Sutta
Background
This text is recorded in the Vinaya Pitaka, specifically in the Bhikkhunī Vibhaṅga, the analysis of the rules for female bhikkhus. The Vinaya Pitaka consists of the regulations for practice and daily life established by the Buddha Shakyamuni for the Sangha, in order to protect the concentration and spiritual independence of monastics.
The background of this text is connected with a specific story: a bhikkhunī received food from a female practitioner (dative/upāsikā) with a mind of longing, attachment, or performed this act of receiving food with a spirit lacking mindfulness (avassutā). The word “avassutā” means “unmindful, careless, lax in vigilance” (careless, heedless). This is a violation of ethics and diligence in the discipline.
The text teaches about one of the pārājika or pācittiya offenses, depending on the different Vinaya versions, related to receiving food with an improper mental attitude, or actions connected with lust when receiving material support for practice.
Main Content
In the Theravāda tradition, the Vinaya Pitaka prescribes that bhikkhunīs must maintain complete mindfulness when receiving food, companions, or any material item from practitioners. What matters is not the thing received, but the mental attitude (cetanā) of the receiver and the donor.
The phrase “avassutā avassutassa” (an unmindful woman receives from an unmindful person) clearly indicates a double situation: both donor and receiver lack mental wakefulness. This leads to lust, calculation of personal benefit, or hidden impure purposes on either side.
This rule was established to protect the purity of the Sangha and monastics from situations that could lead to sexual misconduct, ambition, or service of personal interests. If a bhikkhunī receives food or any material object without clarity of purpose, that is, without mindfulness of the purity of the action, then it is a violation.
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